Energy absorbing bumpers for vehicles, such as cars, buses or the like, are well known in the art. Most typically, such bumpers are made of an elastomeric material, such as polyurethane or the like, and are at times filled with a foam or similar material. Usually these bumpers are provided in a modular form and are attached, as by screws or other fasteners, to a metallic back plate which is carried by the vehicle. Such bumpers are thus intended to absorb energy of the contact of the vehicle with another structure, and typically they assure that no damage is done to the vehicle in a crash of up to five miles an hour. These bumpers are most prevalently found on buses.
While these bumpers thus satisfactorily cushion the force of direct impacts, the prior art bumpers are inadequate when torsional forces are involved. Such forces might be encountered, for example, if one vehicle is pushing another vehicle, particularly around a street corner, or if other than a direct impact were encountered. In these instances, a lateral end of the bumper may be exposed to a torsional force which can tear the module away from the back plate at the area of the fasteners.
Thus, the need exists for an energy absorbing bumper which can resist both direct and torsional forces.